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Sunday, 7 May 2017

Recent Beauty Favourites [May 2017]

For as long as I've been blogging, beauty has never been my forte. I although I like the art of makeup, I was never extremely experimentative or even good at providing unbiased reviews. But, as this is a space for me to share everything I love, I also include the products I enjoy.

My favourites don't change from month to month. Most of the time, I stick to products that I know work well for me. Some of the products on this list are ones that I've talked about several times before and continue to use. Others, are fairly new to my collection that I've really loved.

Since it's currently summer in India, it's been harder to keep my face looking oily and tired throughout the day. Most days, it has been too hot to have too much of makeup on as it gets quite uncomfortable. I usually opt for some eyeliner and neutral lipstick. On the days that I have someplace important to be, I put in a bit more effort without making my skin feel heavy.

The Body Shop All-In-One Insta Blur Primer

This seems like a good start as this is what generally goes on first (after my moisturiser). This was recommended to me by Kirstie from BehindTheScent. Despite not blogging, I've kept in touch with her on Twitter and she raves about this product constantly. When I started working and desperately searched for a product that would keep my face matte all day, she recommended this product once again! Having never used a primer before, I decided to trust her judgement.

To be completely candid, I didn't love it as much as Kirstie did. It didn't keep my face very matte (which is how I like it), but it didn't leave it looking like a McDonald's frier either. On the days that I did wear foundation, it keept it from slipping away but it did look the slightest bit greasy in my "oily" areas. That, to me, is a win! For now. Until I find something better.

L'Oreal Mat Powder

I've been using this product for over 6 months now and I think it's one of the best on the market at the moment. For the price (it is unbelievably inexpensive) it is much better than anticipated. It provides the slightest big of coverage but does manage to instantly mattify and keep the skin matte for a good amount of time. It fails to beat the Indian summer heat but no powder can withstand it anyway. It is also super light weight and doesn't sink into my pores in the heat to create texture, which has happened with a lot of other powders.

MAC Paintpot

I'm late on this one. I think everyone and their mother's psychic have raved about it already but I always held back. I bought this with my first ever paycheck as a treat to myself and I actually quite like it.

I got it in the shade Painterly. Amongst all the shades available at the store, this was the closest match to my skin tone but it is still a bit ashy on me. The shade has a slight lavender tint to it on my skin and makes my dark circles look grey, but does manage to give me a smooth base to work with. The shadows go on top quite smoothly and holds throughout the day without getting oily. I only use this on the centre of my lid and then blend in out as I feel like I need maximum brightness in that area. If MAC has a slightly deeper shade than this (that isn't a deep chocolate brown) do let me know.

Nyx Eyeshadow Quad

When it comes to eyeshadows, neutrals are my religion. I do not stray away from neutral matte shades. That being said, the shadows I owned previously were all cool-toned browns and plums that weren't doing much to liven my face. I needed some warmth whilst staying within the realms of neutral browns.

At first glance, this quad seems a little bold but it is the perfect texture to blend with other shadows. The orange-brown (top right) is what I use most often and I work that into my crease with one of my more grey toned brown shades to bring some warmth to my face.

The only thing I don't like about this quad is the highlight shade. The formula is so off with this one. It's chalky and disappears on the skin. It doesn't deserve a spot in this quad at all. I would prefer something more foil-like than glittery.

L'Oreal Gel Eyeliner

I've blogged about this before and I still love it! I've been through over 7 or 8 pots of this already and I will continue to use it in the future. It glides on perfectly without creating any splintered edges, it is so easy to control, and it dries completely matte. I do consider it to be sufficiently waterproof. By this I mean that if you do scrub with water, it will come off. If not, it stays put.

The only problem I have with it is that the product dries up pretty quickly. I don't know if this is a common trend for gel liners but I have never once finished an entire pot of this stuff.

Sephora Tinted Lip Balm

So Sephora recently launched in India and I was so excited to grab a couple of products from them. I didn't get as much as I though I would but ended up spending more than planned. That's essentially the story of my life!

The one thing that stood out amongst the handful of products I bought is the Sephora Tinted Lip Balm (I don't know the official name as the letters have rubbed off). It isn't the most hydrating of products, but it does add a natural pinkness to the lip and makes them look a bit more plump and healthy. I put a lip balm on top but the colour and effect stays all day. It's one product I recommend to anyone heading to Sephora.

MAC Lipliner

Ever since Kylie Jenner over-did her lips, the internet went bat-shit crazy for MAC lipliners. Obviously, I didn't jump on the bandwagon at the start because I'm never on trend. A couple of months into the year, I was at a MAC store swatching everything I could get my hands on and I immediately loved the texture of their lipliners. So I got one.

Mine is in the shade Spice. It's the prefect neutral for me. I would describe the colour as a browny-pink, a bit like the dusty-rose colour everyone was fawning over a while back. What I love about it (apart from the colour) is that it is so easy to use and to create those clean lines. I like to overline my lips a little and this does not splinter. It isn't ultra long lasting, though. If you're drinking or eating, it's going to come off.

I've recently picked up the shade Soar and I love wearing it over lip balm is it gives my lips the natural pinkness it lacks (thank you, cigarettes!)

As for lipsticks, I thought I'd do a separate post on that as I have too many on my current roster to fit into this post. I've bought a few new ones recently that could possibly make an appearance in a future post. Well, if I remain consistent and come back to write again.

Given how long it took me to get this post done, I hope it garners at least a decent amount of interest. Posts like these will not be very regular on my blog, but every time I find something that blows my mind, I will share it with the world.